Adjournment restrictions: Commissioners must avoid seeking adjournments before the settlement forum; exceptions only in rare cases.
Commissioners are instructed not to seek adjournments in settlement proceedings except in the rarest of rare situations, and any proposed adjournment must be reported in advance through the appropriate CC/DG channel.

Debt securities disclosure: require cash flow illustration and standardized coupon/redemption payment mechanics for issuers.
Issuers must include an illustration of debt security cash flows in the Prospectus/Disclosure Document and apply the Actual/Actual day count convention; coupon dates falling on a Sunday or holiday will be paid on the next working day while maturity dates on a Sunday or holiday will be paid on the previous working day. Allotments for public issues shall be made on the basis of the date of upload into the exchange's electronic book, with proportionate allotment on oversubscription. Listed issuers may disclose unaudited financials with a limited review for the stub period, and must publish debenture trustee contact details in annual reports and on websites.

Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies approved and enlisted in Appendix 5, updating authorised inspectors and operational regions immediately.
Amendments designate and enlist specified entities as Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies (PSIA) in Appendix 5 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) under paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-14. The Director General of Foreign Trade adds named inspection agencies and their regional or branch offices to the Appendix with immediate effect, thereby updating the roster of authorized PSIA and recording their areas of operation for pre-shipment inspection and trade compliance purposes.

Investor complaint disclosure: exchanges must publish broker complaint rates and resolution percentages publicly to increase transparency.
Stock exchanges must disclose on their websites, for each broker, the number of active clients, the percentage of complaints received against active clients, and the percentage of complaints resolved against complaints received, and must also publish exchange-level totals of complaints, active clients and the overall redressal rate. These additional fields amend the prior reporting format and take effect from the quarter ended December 2013 under powers of Section 11(1).

Transmission of securities: simplified documentation and mandated timelines for demat and physical transfers, with nomination publicity required.
Standardisation of transmission of securities prescribes revised thresholds for simplified documentation in dematerialised transfers and specifies mandated processing timelines for dematerialised and physical transmissions measured from receipt of prescribed documents. For physical holdings, prescribed standardized documents apply where a nominee exists; where no nominee exists, simplified documentation applies up to a specified issuer-level value and formal succession instruments or court authority are required for higher-value holdings. Registrars must publicize nomination and exchanges and depositories must amend rules; compliance is required within a fixed period.

TIN requirement: banks should not insist on TIN before opening current accounts; registration follows bank details.
The Department requires dealers to provide main bank account details in Form DVAT-04 and issues Registration Number/TIN only after those bank details are submitted; banks should not insist on TIN as a precondition for opening current accounts because RBI KYC norms do not mandate TIN. Dealers below the registration threshold who transact only within Delhi are not required to register and may open current accounts despite not having a TIN.

Export obligation regularisation: pay customs duty and interest, obtain RA closure letter to regularize adjudicated or appealed cases; reporting required
Applicants must pay outstanding customs duty and interest to Customs and submit evidence to the Regional Authority, which may close the export obligation default and issue a closure letter. The closure letter is to be presented to the Adjudicating Authority or Appellate Authority as applicable for final action. Regional Authorities must submit a monthly proforma report to DGFT recording authorization details, duty and interest paid, and dates of request and closure.

Stakeholder participation in customs functioning promoted; monthly PTFC meetings and apex trade body engagement required for local issue resolution.
The Board directs Chief Commissioners to institutionalise monthly Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee meetings on pre decided dates, to review and expand PTFC membership to include all stakeholders, to allow apex trade bodies to attend along with local constituents, and to send minutes raising all India implications to the Board through the Directorate General of Export Promotion; Commissioners should also be receptive to meetings with trade bodies outside PTFC forums and report implementation difficulties to the Ministry.

Due date extension for tax audit reports: electronic filings by the extended deadline deemed timely under income tax law.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes directs that where the prescribed due date for furnishing tax audit reports and corresponding income tax returns fell on the original deadline and those reports and returns are furnished electronically on or before the extended deadline, such filings shall be deemed furnished within the due date prescribed under section 139.

Listing on Institutional Trading Platform allows SME securities to list without a public offer, limited to informed investors and private funding.
Listing on an Institutional Trading Platform permits SMEs and start-ups to list specified securities on an SME Exchange without making an initial public offering, accessible only to informed investors. Eligible companies must meet fitness criteria, financial vintage and size limits, and demonstrate minimum investments from specified investor categories. Listed companies cannot undertake public offers while on ITP, may raise capital only by private placement or restricted rights issues, must maintain minimum promoter shareholding locked-in for a period, and are subject to prescribed exit, delisting and disclosure liabilities.

Correction of import description updates SION A-3504 chemical nomenclature under the Handbook of Procedures for trade compliance.
Amendment corrects the description of an import item in the Handbook of Procedures Vol II by revising the chemical nomenclature in the Standard Input-Output Norms entry at SION A-3504, replacing the previously listed name with the corrected chemical name for import item no. 1; the change is an administrative textual correction to the published SION entry.

General Information Document for public issues: mandated generic disclosures, GID availability, lead manager distribution and posting requirements.
The circular mandates a standardized General Information Document (GID) for public issues under the SEBI ICDR Regulations, 2009, to present issuer agnostic guidance on IPO/FPO processes. Lead managers must ensure the GID displays the date of last update, is printed in prescribed minimum quantities, supplied to investors on request, and posted on stock exchange and lead manager websites. The annexed GID details eligibility, Book Building and Fixed Price procedures, investor categories, ASBA/non ASBA payment mechanisms, technical grounds for rejection, allocation and allotment methodology, refund and listing timelines, and confirms that RHP/Prospectus disclosures prevail in case of conflict.

Standard Input Output Norms revision alters leather input specifications and technical descriptions under SION entries G 7 and G 46.
Revisions amend Standard Input Output Norms (SION) entries G 7 and G 46 for leather products by deleting some inputs, changing descriptions and specifying technical details. Annex I and Annex II prescribe revised input lists and allowable quantities per 1,000 sq. ft. of finished leather, covering tanning agents, chemicals, dyes, finishing materials, transfer foil and miscellaneous items. The Notice states export product descriptions and permissible input quantities remain unchanged except where inputs are deleted, and imposes Actual User restrictions and prohibitions on specified substances.

Re-fixation of Annual Average Export Obligation allowed where sectoral export decline exceeds threshold; regional offices must amend EPCG licences.
Para 5.11.2 permits re-fixation of Annual Average Export Obligation where a sector/product group shows specified export decline; Regional Offices must re-fix the obligation for EPCG Authorisations for 2012-13, endorse reductions in licence files, issue Amendment Sheets to holders, and consider prior policy circulars under Para 5.11.2 before issuing demand notices, incorporating this requirement into the EODC check-sheet. A list of affected product groups is enclosed.

Deemed defective returns: unpaid self-assessment tax on e-return filing triggers notices and follow-up by assessing officers.
E-returns in which self-assessment tax remained unpaid on the date of filing are deemed defective returns; the CPC has issued notices to such assessees, PAN-wise data has been placed on the internal portal, and Assessing Officers are directed to issue notices and follow up to secure deposit of the outstanding self-assessment tax.

Refund adjustment procedures under income-tax law: CPC to process refunds after AO verification and demand communication.
Allows CPC, Bengaluru to issue refunds without adjustment where either the outstanding demand or the refund claim falls below the small-value threshold; CCIT-wise lists of cases with refunds or demands exceeding that threshold and with notices issued are available on i-Taxnet. Assessing Officers must perform statutory verification and correction under the demand-confirmation procedure, determine adjustable demand, and communicate those findings to CPC, Bengaluru, which will then process refunds and adjust demands.

Centralized corporate bond database increases transparency by mandating depositories and issuers to publish validated bond data.
A centralized database for corporate bonds/debentures requires both depositories jointly to create, host, maintain and disseminate a unified repository for dematerialised instruments, with systems to ensure data integrity and synchronization. Issuers, stock exchanges, credit rating agencies and debenture trustees are designated information providers: issuers must supply required fields at ISIN activation and update changes; exchanges, rating agencies and trustees access secure logins to verify and update ratings, listing status and default history. Depositories must host, share and publish validated data within prescribed short timelines and implement phased collection of historical data.

Special Currency Basket revision notified to authorised dealers, requiring implementation of the revised exchange valuation for deferred settlements.
Revision of the Rupee value of the Special Currency Basket for settlement under the Deferred Payment Protocols is notified to Authorised Dealer Category I banks, effective October 17, 2013. AD Category I banks must inform their constituents and implement the revised valuation for bilateral deferred payment settlements. The Directions are issued under FEMA (sections 10(4) and 11(1)) and are without prejudice to other statutory permissions or approvals.

Mismatch in VAT data: dealers must revise online reports by deadline to avoid tax, interest and penalties.
Assessments for registered dealers for the third and fourth quarters of 2012-13 will be based on mismatches in online data as on 31/10/2013; dealers must review the Mismatch Report and revise Annexure 2A and 2B of their returns by 6:00 pm on 31/10/2013 to avoid additional tax, interest and penalty under the DVAT Act.

Tax administration reform establishes an advisory commission to review tax governance and recommend administrative reforms.
The Tax Administration Reform Commission is an expert advisory body constituted to review and recommend reforms to tax policy application, organisational structure, workforce deployment, business processes including ICT, dispute resolution, taxpayer services, database and inter agency information sharing, forecasting and revenue monitoring, capacity building for customs, research inputs, and predictive analysis to detect economic offences; it will be supported by a Secretariat with access to tax and customs data for statistical analysis.